Gentle lie acted badly (8)
I believe the answer is:
delicate
'gentle' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'lie acted badly' is the wordplay.
'badly' is an anagram indicator (letters in the wrong order).
'lie'+'acted'='lieacted'
'lieacted' with letters rearranged gives 'DELICATE'.
(Other definitions for delicate that I've seen before include "Soft" , "Very fine or easily broken" , "Exquisite; needing tactful handling" , "Fragile - tactful" , "Dainty - fragile" .)